Yarra Valley Water awarded for innovation

Yarra Valley Water has been granted the Smart Infrastructure Project Award for its IBM Maximo Asset Management Project and SPSS Analytics Pilot.

The prestigious National Infrastructure Awards, which recognise excellence in the delivery of major projects, were held in Sydney and hosted by Infrastructure Partnerships Australia.

YVW Managing Director Pat McCafferty was thrilled with the national recognition for the project which will contribute towards improving the management of $4 billion worth of water and sewerage infrastructure.

“The sophisticated analytics and asset management software from IBM has helped us to have a comprehensive view of all of our assets, which are used to deliver essential water and sewerage services to over 1.7 million people and 50,000 businesses throughout Melbourne.

“The new system has helped us to collect, combine and analyse data from across our asset portfolio. Having access to more accurate and detailed information about the network allows us to further improve our customer service.

“We can now also improve the existing asset lifecycle, ensuring downtime and maintenance costs are reduced, as well as minimising disruption to the community in the provision of vital services. This means that resources and funds are being used where they are needed most for the benefit of our customers” said Mr McCafferty.

When talking about the awards, IPA Chief Executive, Brendan Lyon said that the strong field of winners shows the expertise across Australia’s public and private infrastructure sectors, with a range of projects that showcase new solutions to old problems.

Mr Lyon added that “The Smart Infrastructure project of 2015 is IBM’s work for Yarra Valley Water, which shows how technology can contribute to superior service outcomes.”